The Alatsee is a meromictic lake six kilometers west of Füssen in Bavaria. It is located at an altitude of 868 meters in a ravine-like depression only about 80 meters north of the Falkenstein ridge with the border with Austria and a good 500 meters south of the lower Weissensee. It is separated from this by the Untere Weißenseeberg and the Burkenbichlberg. It is 490 meters long (east-west) and up to 290 meters wide. Its area measures twelve hectares and it is 32.1 (according to other sources up to 35) meters deep.
Diving is strictly prohibited there and only allowed with a special permit. Allegedly, the lake would be funnel-shaped, which has not yet been proven, as dangers lurk in the depths of the lake, which are also responsible for the reddish color in the underground. When this happens, the residents say: “The lake is bleeding!” The people of that time assumed that the lake goes down like a funnel and that many passages and caves branch off from there. In some cases, accesses to Austria should also extend underground.
Sometimes this color is supposed to step up and thus represent the lake as bleeding water. As we now know, there is a poisonous and smelly layer of sulfur-eating purple bacteria at a depth of 15 meters. Life is no longer possible under these circumstances. This is a unique phenomenon worldwide and, according to scientists, has to do with the gypsum that the rain washes from the rock walls into the lake.
There are many regional myths and legends about the Alatsee. Mythical creatures are said to live there and to bypass ghosts. Careless hikers would be drawn into the lake and lured into crevices.
Since large numbers of fish repeatedly died and people repeatedly disappeared, the lake is still a notorious place among the local population. However, these deaths are most likely due to the release of hydrogen sulfide.
The local population says that it is possible to get to Austria through cracks in the area around the lake.
Due to the location of the lake in a narrow gorge, there are often strong wind currents that lead to overgrowth and crippling of trees. This is interpreted by esoterics as a sign of existing lines and fields of force.
Air force technicians carried out aerodynamics tests on and in the Alatsee during the Second World War with underwater models of the Focke-Wulf Ta 154. In the lake you can still find large iron bars and frames that were used for this.
In the 1950s and 1960s in particular, these rumors attracted numerous treasure hunters and divers, who hid much illegally, mainly sunk weapons from the Second World War. However, no treasure or other riches were found. The lake has been closed to diving since 1983. Special permits are granted for scientific purposes.
According to rumors, towards the end of the Second World War, gold treasures from the Deutsche Reichsbank, which had previously been stored at Neuschwanstein Castle, were sunk on the bottom of the Alatsee. These rumors as well as the military-technical attempts have inspired the team of authors Michael Kobr and Volker Klüpfel for their Allgäu crime thriller Seegrund in the series Kommissar Kluftinger.
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